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Tuesday, September 06, 2011

new and improved

22 days ago, I started my craft room remodel. ﻿Today I'm excited to proclaim that it is D-O-N-E, done! I don't know that I've been this excited about a finish. Ever. It was a TON of work, just like I had expected. But the final outcome of the room exceeds my expectations about 100 times over.

Overall, my goals were to keep things simple, clean and light. Of course I wanted to do all of this without spending much money. I bought paint and hardware and hinges, which set me back about $40. Sweet!!! I only used furniture and storage items I already had. My hubby wanted to take me to IKEA and buy a new desk, but I love my little "grandma table", as we call it.

Painting the wood work was the most time consuming thing. My husband is a gem. He's in the 1-5% of men that actually prefers white trim over wood. I am actually working on painting the trim throughtout my house. (My brother-in-laws are aghast that I would do such a thing!) It's a HUGE pain in the hinder, but the results are AMAZING!

The closet was cleaned out and organized, too, but it isn't very photogenic. It holds my stash, my WIP boxes, my quilt tops, scraps, more stash, more scraps, remnants, and various supplies/projects.

This is a little shelf I made years ago and it holds most of my pin cushion collection. I love how sweet it looks tucked up above my closet doors.

I really debated about hanging my thread storage on my wall. I also debated painting the shelf white, but I we (husband and I) decided to hang it and keep it as is. Hurray! One less thing to paint! I had so much fun arranging the thread in color order last night. I'm such a geek. And because I know someone will ask, I did a whole post about thread here.

I'm using a lid from an IKEA storage box as a tray to hold all my tools and gadgets. Keeping things tidy and in control is the goal. I think the tray will help! The little tin cans are screaming for fabric covers. It's on my to-do list and it has been for quite a long time. The coil pot was made by my son and it makes the best seam ripper holder ever.

I'm looking forward to spending many hours planted here. I'm also dreaming of making a quilted cover for my very blue chair.

My thrift store chair used to look like this. It had gotten quite grubby since I refinished it, so a new cover was in order. I used some ticking that was my grandmother's. (My stash knows no bounds!) I love how easy it is to change the look of this chair. I've done it many times over the years. It's currently holding a few WIP's, but it's ready for a visitor at any time. :) The huge green bowl is something that I picked up from Target several years ago.

I placed a few containers on my desk to help keep me organized. My cutting scraps will go in the box to the left. I will sort it when it gets full. The container on the right is for ticker tape pieces. I may end up moving these to my cutting area, if I have room. I haven't fully broke in my new space yet, so we shall see!

The pattern for the circle box is from the book Scandinavian Stitches. It is such a cute and fun project! I should note, I made the sides a bit taller than the pattern calls for. After I made it, I just happened to discover that a recycled food container fit inside it perfectly, which helps hold the shape. Such a happy accident!

The buffet was my grandmother's, and it's going to be my cutting station. I wish it were deeper, but I'm going to make it work. If I have to do some larger cutting, I plan to use a bigger cutting mat on the floor.

My red polka dot "hold everything boxes" have been used in 3 different rooms of my house now. LOVE that! Currently, they hold my pre-cuts and fabric bundles.

The little drawers on the left hold some fabric scraps and little things...snaps, tools, all kinds of stuff.

The mini quilt was made by Anne Day, and I received it in a swap her and I did. I just love it and love how it fits in here so well!

The buttons on the top of the buffet are color coded. It's a sickness.

The jar on the right holds fabric scraps. (Imagine that!)

It was a huge PAIN to paint the french door, but it sure looks pretty white!

This is probably the only time my desk will be this clean. I love, love, love having my desk beneath the window.

Here's my floor to ceiling design wall. I used a king size flat flannel sheet and I attached it to the wall with thumb tacks. Previously, I had attached it with staples, which worked, too. This looks cleaner and neater. When I took the sheet down to paint, I washed and dried it, so it's almost thread free again. Yay! What a nice side effect to this whole project.

Here's one last shot. I was going to try to be brief, but that was an epic fail. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tour. ;) I'm excited to see the results of all my hard work! Now it's time to get busy and mess it up again! Speaking of messes, I still have a bunch of stuff that I took out of the room that I need to toss/donate/find a new home for. I don't want to appear on the show hoarders anytime soon!

I was telling my husband last night just how thankful I am to have this room. So very thankful! I love having a place where I can leave everything set up and waiting until I have a chance to get back to my work, because we all know how many interruptions a mama has. :)

Just a few more details...

I used Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 primer for the walls to cover the red (and the woodwork, for that matter). That stinky stuff does wonders! I had no trouble covering the red at all. Oh, I am so thankful!

The wall color is woven basket (B22-3) from Ace Hardware. I chose flat paint for the first time ever and I loved it! It only took 2 coats, which is pretty normal, from my experience. I LOVE Ace paint!

The trim color is macaroon cream. I had it color matched from an old paint chip. My daughter likened it to the color of cream cheese, which made me laugh and laugh, but she is exactly right!

122 comments:

I too love Ace paint...if I find a color chip from another company I just have them color match it..I'm with you on the painted woodwork.love a crisp white..I had my white kitchen cabinets color matched (at Ace of course) and used it for all the woodwork..

I can't wait to get into my new sewing room... you can see pics here..

Congratulations! It looks amazing, and I'm so happy for you. I love seeing sewing spaces. It is my favorite thing about reading quilt blogs. I think the lighter paint in that room will be inspiring. It is now a "light and airy" space, enhanced by all that WHITE trim! Good for you. It is so pristine and fresh. The perfect environment to create lots more goodies for me to read about. :-)

I love your space. it will be such a creative spot for you. Love your design wall. I have a large flannel back table cloth never thought about a flannel sheet for a larger space. Wonderful. Go have fun. Selina

Love the space! It looks so happy! I also love your taste in cups. =) I have a set of happy daisy cups from Target myself. One of them is frequently found filled with sweet tea and sitting beside my sewing machine. I smiled when I saw yours.

Your room looks great, and so totally different! Mine is a total disaster. TOTAL disaster... I can't emphasize that enough. I just plain have too much stuff. The thought of cleaning it out frightens me. Good work tackling yours!

It looks beautiful. And if it makes you feel any better, all my thread & buttons are color coded, too & I have a thread shelf (printers box) almost identical to yours! So if you're a geek, at least you are not the only one!

It looks so tidy... I envy you, not for the lovely space you have created but for the zillion projects and ideas you are going to develop there. Thanks for sharing this tour, as always, you are very inspiring

what a beautiful space! I'm getting ready to paint the baseboards in my old house...I'm dreading it but I know it will look wonderful and once I get started I'll be motivated to keep going...it's just getting started that is taking a bit. Enjoy your sewing haven.

Wow, what a transformation Amanda Jean!! Light and bright, I love your little pincushion shelf too. I noticed the way you use your ironing board, I switched mine around a couple months ago to use like that too... so much easier for ironing fabric! You're going to have fun in there.

Loved looking through your pictures and reading about your room makeover ... most of all I am just so happy for you! I'm in the process of setting up my sewing area (in the basement -- how I'd love to have a room!) and I know how wonderful it feels to have a space dedicated just to sewing projects. Aaahh. Can you say BLISS?

I love your clean, uncluttered room! I'm just tackling a disaster of a den/rubberstamping/junk room as my new sewing space (out of the kitchen), so you've given me some great ideas! I also have a "grandma table" - but it's going to be my cutting space, since it's just about the size of my 18x24 mat (I have a cabinet for my sewing machine.) The buffet with the repurposed jars is great, too. And I'm going to copy your thread cabinet - I dabbled in letterpress printing a while back and have several empty typecases available. Hope you love working in your new space!

Enjoy your new creative space. Has turned out really well. I have all my kids at school this year too....bittersweet is a good description. Creative time and bloggy friends are really helpful. Have fun :)

Your room looks great. White paint is wonderful as it freshens a room instantly. It is such a sense of satisfaction when all the sorting and decorating is done. Love having a place for everything.I hope you get a lot of pleasure and inspiration from working in your lovely new room.

What a pretty room to spend time in, and be creative... I can so identify with your inclination to organize... but, for all that you showed us, you did not show us the closet... and so of course, now I'm longing to see it... perhaps you'll share one day...

OH my goodness, thank you for giving the name of the paint. I used that in my first house which was a total reno due to neglect - nothing fundamental but almost - and the primer worked wonders on walls which were so saturated with tar (etc.) they wouldn't come clean after several washings or hold paint. This weekend I visited family in a different province, and several cousins have bought first homes from smokers and are grappling with being unable to get paint to stick or eliminate the smell....you saved me a wandering trip through home depot! Many thanks.And the revamp looks great - I still love your thread frame.

how very lovely, if only my room looked so clean..... alas.... not so!!i too am thankful!!a window over the sewing machine makes a world of difference doesn't it??i keep a lint roller in the sewing room at all times; it's perfect for de-threading my design (flannel sheet) wall, as well as to clean tiny debris from my cutting mat periodically. works like a charm!!xoeva

I love the flannel sheet design wall! I have looked into getting a specially made design wall but didn't feel comfortable spending so much on basically a piece of cloth. Thanks to you now I know that I can take my flannel sheet out of the closet and use it instead. Thank you!

I loved the coziness of the old sewing room, but I love the warmth and sunniness of this one. One of my favorite things: your thread, sorted by color. Love.It.! Now I just want to come sew in there with you. And have tea. And chat and laugh...

Good for you! It looks beautiful and I picked up lots of tricks! I will be getting a new closet (left over when my sister's family finally moves house, so I have a good excuse to let stuff get even more muddled for a while! Have fun in your new and improved room!

Love the room, so light and airy looking. Great to relove and reuse your own furniture.I am always torn re the woodwork, depends on the entire house I find.I am back renting again and love the idea of the design wall.Enjoy your room!CheersLushLondon, UK

I love the tour of your "revamped" space.I too have a designated space, but it's in our basement. Although, it's a new (home) room, being so far from the rest of the house makes it somewhat uninviting. Except for when i want to be away from the madding crowd lol.Great accessories with the thread display cabinetry and I love the sewing table.Get to work now!!

Great job and in only 22 days! I love all your storage and organizing ideas! I have been working on a bedroom re-do for about 6 weeks now ( check out my posts). I am getting close to the end, but the little details are getting in the way. I have used Ace paint in the past and it is very nice paint. For my project I was using Behr - I was at the Home Depot and it was easy just to get it there - and I do not like the paint at all. So now I have to go back and sand and repaint some surfaces with different paint. At least Behr is going to refund me my money. Enjoy your new room!

I looks great! So clean and neat. I feel as though mine would never look that good. The only question I have, though, is where did you kick your husband out to? I thought you guys were sharing that room -- part office/computer room? So fun to have your own space. My husband and I have shared before, and it's not easy. Love the new look!

Woohoo! It's beautiful Ms. Crazy! I'm SO envious of that fab design wall -- I've been craving one lately but just don't have the space so I'm thinking about buying one of those portable design walls. Maybe.

Now, what I really want to know is....where did you put the children? (Not the living ones, the cute little pink and aqua and green ones that will someday make a quilt!)

I love your new set up, very light and clean looking! All this time I have imagined you sitting at a huge table to machine quilt all of your quilts! What is your secret to make it work at a small table? Do you put the ironing board or something else next to your machine to help support the quilt?

My sewing room doubles as a guest room with the furniture required. When guests are in the house everything sewing related goes. But most days I can sew to my heart's content, make a mess of fabric and close the door behind me.

Your Juki looks so happy in that sunlight! I love seeing other people's sewing rooms :) One of our quilt shops puts on an annual event where they do tours through sewing rooms - so fun! Here's mine... http://kwinrc.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-sewing-room.html

Glad to see you're doing so well - I really enjoy your blog. Hope to see you in November.

Your craft room looks great! So clean and fresh. I am terrible at picking out paint colors and really like this one you chose. Thanks for sharing your space and the paint colors. I will probably use them in the near future. Have a great day! Denise

OOOO I am loving the remodel! It looks fantastic, and so bright! I love the white paint. Excuse me, the macaroon paint, lol. I might try and make a pledge to only buy paint colors named after food .... haha.

I am going to be starting my craft room remodel soon. We just moved into a new house. I am for sure going to use your fabric storage cube pattern to make a bunch for my craft room, thank you for the tutorials!

What a gorgeous room! It looks like a lovely place to play with fabric, because that's really what you'll be doing in there :) Have great plans for my own too, but will have to move most of the junk out first, lol.Thanks for giving us a look.

It all looks so wonderful and cheery, but I'm distracted because I must have that buffet. That's the exact item I have been looking for. Of all the fantastic things in that room, that's what I'm MOST jealous of!

Wow! It really looks great. I would love to have my machine under a window. How nice. My room is an unfinished room in the basement. Not real attractive. Marginally functional. I used to have a gorgeous sewing room in Idaho. Suffering with a less desirable one now. Someday when we get the addition done on the house, I'll get my reward. Way to go on finishing it up in 22 days. That is great. Your use of the buffet is inspired. How great.

I looove your new room! So jealous of all that space. My husband just got me a desk from Ikea and it has been the best thing ever. Look up the Expedit system. I got the 16 shelf one. It is amazing for fabric and such storage!I am a big fan of the painted trim.

I just want to thank you for being real. I get discouraged sometimes when people show their renovated craft spaces and everything is brand new. My husband and I just downsized from a large house to a condo, and we're sharing office and crafting space in one room. When you said you were determined to use only things you already had, it gave me new hope that I could organize "my half" of the room without having to go out and buy a bunch of stuff. So thanks for being just a regular girl! ;)